The Last Place You Look
by Aeris Ultimavara
Summary: Maddie and Esteban find themselves accidently mentioning each other's names at odd times. But it's just coincidence, right? Or does the subconcious sometimes try to tell us things we don't realize ourselves? COMPLETE.
1. Incidents and Accidents

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter One: Incidents and Accidents  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Disclaimer: Neither The Suite Life nor any associated names and places belong to me. They are Disney's and It's a Laugh Productions'.

* * *

"Words, words, mere words. No matter from the heart."  
-Shakespeare, _Troilus and Cressida_

It was another day at the Tipton Hotel. Bellhops were scurrying to and fro, Norman was ushering visitors in and out the doors, and Mr. Moseby was busy checking in guests while ignoring Arwin, who was trying to show him a design for a robot that could check the guests in itself. Carey Martin, meanwhile was getting in an early warmup for her evening show. Her twin sons, fresh from school, tumbled into the lounge.

"Hey, Mom," they greeted her. "Big show tonight?"

"Yup, she said. "I'm singing for the mayor."

"Cool, can we watch you practice?"

"Well, you know it'd be pretty hard to practice in between breaking up your fights."

Where most boys would have protested that they wouldn't get into a fight, the Martin boys simply agreed that their mother had a point. At this point, Esteban walked into the lounge on one of his various errands for Mr. Moseby.

"Oh Esteban, are you busy?" Carey called to him.

"Right now, yes. Mr. Moseby has asked to me to find him a - "

Knowing Esteban's love of minor details, such as his unusually long full name, the singer stopped him before he gave them a ten minute sermon on what exactly Moseby had asked him to find.

"Are you going to be busy in a few minutes?"

"Nope." he said simply

"Great. Could you take the boys up to our suite for me? I'll only be a little while longer."

"Sure. It's almost time for Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, anyway. We can watch it together. "

Carey gave him one of her motherly warning looks and he cringed.

"I mean, uh - it's almost time to start their homework?"

"That's better," Carey smiled.

Upon entering the suite, Zack sat down on the couch and popped open one of the grape drinks his mother had set out. She always left fruit juices out for them, wanting them to be healthy instead of just guzzling sodas all the time.

Cody went into the kitchen and retrieved a bag of potato chips to snack on.

"Ooh, chips!" Zack said, and promptly snatched them out of his brother's hand.

"You could have at least asked for them," Cody suggested.

"Yeah, but why waste time?"

"You are so rude."

"No, this would be rude," Zack said, giving Cody a shove, to which Cody responded in kind.

A shoving match would have ensued but for Esteban's interference. He picked both boys up by their collars and held them above the ground.

"Now you little peoples need to behave," he scolded.

"Well, it would be easier if Zack wasn't such a jerk," Cody said, scowling at Zack.

"It would be easier if you just let me have the dang chips," Zack answered back

"Or maybe if you learned some manners," Cody said, reaching his foot out to try and kick at his twin

"You call kicking good manners?" Zack asked, as he also tried to kick his brother's outstretched leg.

As the two were swinging back and forth, their flailing feet made contact with Zack's abandoned grape juice can. All motion stopped as the three watched it fly through the air spraying stains all over on the carpet, and land with a splash on the couch, creating a large purple puddle on the cushions.

Simultaneously, the three pondered their fates aloud.

"What's Mom going to say?" cried Cody

"What's Mr. Moseby going to say?" wondered Zack

"What's Maddie going to say?" fretted Esteban.

"Maddie?" the twins asked, confused. They both turned to stare at him.

"What about her?" Esteban asked, still staring worriedley at the multiple stains.

"You said 'What's Maddie going to say'"

"I did?"

"Yeah," Cody said, then gasped. "Do you like her?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh? No, she is only a friend."

"It's ok if you do like her. Actually, I think you two would be cute together," Cody smiled, pretending not to hear the gagging noises Zack was making behind him.

"Huh." Esteban said again, wondering why her name come out of his mouth without him realizing it?

"_Well, she is normally the boys' babysitter, and she never lets them get into trouble_," he thought to himself. "_And I don't want to look like a bad caretaker, which I will if compared to Maddie._" And that, he concluded, was the reason why he said her name.

Having reached this conclusion, he promptly put the thought from his mind to make way for more pressing matters. "Come on," he told the twins, "let's try to fix this before your mom gets here. Do you guys have any Spot-Shot?"

"Yeah, I'll get it." Zack volunteered, forgetting his attitude in his eagerness to avoid punishment.

"And I'll get some towels," Cody chimed in.

And so they went to work.

* * *

Earlier that day London and Maddie were sitting in their math class at school. Maddie was taking notes, and London was trying to look inconspicuous as she peered at Maddie's writing, then copied it into her own notebook. The nun at the front of the class was trying to teach them about the difference between sines, cosines, and tangents, but was only succeeding in putting the students to sleep. Maddie tried to keep herself awake by doodling in the margins of her notes. She drew flowers, hearts, stars, and all kinds of simple shapes, and when she had drawn every shape she could think of, she began to write her name in as many different fonts as she could. Unfortunately, the mindless activity wasn't doing much to relieve her drowsiness, but London loudly whispering her name did manage to get her attention.

"Maddie, is there something you want to tell me?" London asked.

"Uh, no. Why?" Maddie responded. "What kind of weird question is that?"

"Oh, I don't know," London said airily, but suddenly hissed, "I was just wondering why you have the name Esteban written all over your paper!"

"What! I do not! Look," she said, holding up her spiral. "It says Mad - oh..."

"Mad_oh_? I thought your name was Madd_ie_?"

Maddie ignored her. For there on her paper, where Maddie had been drawing, she saw that she had written

**Maddie  
Madeline  
Maddie Fitzpatrick  
MMGMCF  
EJRMDRR  
Esteban JRMDR Ramirez**

How had she written all that and not even noticed it? She really must have been zoning out. But why would Esteban's name come to her mind while she wasn't paying attention?

"Do you like him?" London asked.

"What? No." Maddie said.

"Well, you wrote his name next yours."

It was just because she had been so zoned out, Maddie thought. Work was practically her life, so it was only natural that she should write someone from the Tipton's name down subconsciously. Especially since she and Esteban both had really long names. But she wouldn't have been surprised if she had had written down Cody, or Norman, or even Mr. Moseby.

"Girls," came a voice from the front of the room. They looked and saw their teacher staring at them. "Keep the noise down."

Thus the two were forced to cut their conversation short. London pretended to study the notes she had copied from Maddie, while Maddie flipped her pencil over to erase the names she had written. But she did not put her eraser to the page. If she were to erase them it would seem like she was embarassed about them being there. Stubbornly, she decided was going to leave them there just to prove that they didn't mean anything.


	2. Down the Primrose Path

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Two: Down the Primrose Path  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Disclaimer: All Disclaimers from the first chapter apply!

* * *

As watchman to my heart...  
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,  
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,  
Whiles...himself the primrose path of dalliance treads  
And recks not his own rede.  
-Shakespeare, _Hamlet  
_

Esteban stepped off the elevator and into the lobby, whereupon he saw that Maddie had arrived for work. Remembering what he had accidentally said while watching the boys, he averted his eyes from her and quickly walked to the front desk. If he were to go talk to her, it might make people think that it had meant something significant, and he didn't want to give that impression.

Maddie saw him get off the elevator, and was relieved when he didn't come over. If London should see them together, she would probably make a huge deal out of it. Maddie would talk to Esteban sometime later, once London had forgotten about what she had accidentally written. And knowing London, that would probably only take a few minutes.

London, meanwhile, had gone to change out of her school clothes. When she came back downstairs, she saw Esteban waiting around for someone to give him a job, and remembered what had happened with Maddie's notes earlier in the day. She wanted to find out what was going on between thim and Maddie that would make her write his name down like that. So she slinked over to him as if she had some top secret information and didn't want anyone to know about it.

"Hey Esteban!" she whispered. "Guess who I went to school with today."

Esteban knew the answer, of course. But why would London be asking him such an obvious question, unless she wanted to put him on the spot about Maddie? Knowing her and her love of gossip, he guessed that she must have already found out about his verbal mishap.

London didn't wait for an answer. Looking to the left and the right to make sure no one was listening, she leaned towards him and whispered "Maddie."

"That's nice." he said, staring at her blankly. He wasn't going to give London any more ideas than she already had.

Disappointed with not getting a reaction, she asked, "Don't you think that's kind of interesting?"

"Uh, why would it be? It's only Maddie. Don't you go to school with her everyday?" he said, trying to add a coldness to his voice to show he didn't care about the blonde girl any more than anyone else.

"Only Maddie, huh? Ok, well I was just asking." she said, and straightened up abruptly. "Bye, then."

Esteban sighed in relief as she turned away. She seemed to believe him, so maybe there wouldn't be too big of a fuss about his slip after all.

But in reality, London was wondering how Maddie would feel about that exchange. Despite Maddie's claim to the contrary, writing his name next to hers seemed, to London, to indicate how she felt for him, but Esteban didn't seem to be thinking of her in any special way. In fact, he seemed to be kind of annoyed by the mention of her name.

In her mind, London pondered what could have caused such a reaction. "_Maddie probably tried to flirt with him, and I bet she came off looking really obvious. That must have been a big turn-off_," she thought. It was then London resolved not to let Maddie know how Esteban felt about her advances. She may like to tease, but she wasn't cruel enough to purposely embarrass someone like that.

A few minutes later, Cody walked over to Maddie's station. Like London, he wanted to see if anything was up between her and Esteban that would cause him to mention her name.

"What's up, Maddie?" he asked

"Not much," she said.

"Have you seen Esteban lately?"

Maddie rolled her eyes. Had London spread her gossip all over the hotel in just half an hour?

"No I haven't," she said irritably.

"You know, you sound like you don't want to see him."

"What does it matter whether I do or don't" Maddie snapped. "_It didn't mean anything!_" she thought. "_It was a simple coincidence. Why can't people understand that?_"

"Hey, I was just making an observation," Cody said.

"Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you, but could you please refrain from making any more observations on my feelings? I don't want to see Esteban any more or less than on any other day."

"Alright then, Maddie. That's all I wanted to know." Cody said as he backed off.

Maddie's statement wasn't such great news. Cody suspected that Esteban liked her, and he wanted to see how she felt about him. But based on her reaction, Zack must have gotten there first, and blabbed Esteban's secret to her. She certainly hadn't looked too thrilled when Cody mentioned Esteban's name.

"_Poor guy_," Cody thought. He knew couldn't let the Esteban find out that Maddie knew he had been thinking of her, and didn't seem to return his feelings.


	3. Never the Twain Shall Meet

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Three: Never the Twain Shall Meet  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Notes: I still don't own any of the people or places that I'm writing about. But I do want to say thanks to all my fantastic reviewers. I'm glad to have made so many new friends because of Maddie and Esteban!

* * *

"East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet."  
-Rudyard Kipling, _The Ballad of East and West_

So it was that neither Esteban nor Maddie knew what the other had done. Around their friends they feigned disinterest to keep others from thinking they felt in ways which they did not feel. And around each other, both the bellhop and the candy girl grew suddenly shy. For you see, each thought that the other had heard of their accidents, and anytime they saw each other, both would agonize over what the other must have been thinking of them.

In order to avoid these embarrasing encounters, the pair of employees began to avoid each other more and more. But the irony was that neither knew the other had ever done anything, and so neither knew the other was avoiding them for reasons entirely different than those which they supposed...

Esteban leaned his elbows on the front desk counter and stared at Mr. Moseby's guest check-in ledgers, which he had taken up organizing in his spare time. He had adopted this hobby because it would make him look like he was busy so he wouldn't have to talk to Maddie, but so that he could still see her in case she ever wanted to talk to him. He had been afraid to be near her since "The Incident," but that didn't stop him from wishing that she would come to him. The sad thing was this - first, the ledgers never needed organizing. Mr. Moseby's fastidiousness ensured that much. And second, Maddie hardly ever tried to approach him nowadays.

"_She must be so embarrassed that a goofy guy like me would like her_," he thought sadly. "_But I wish she wouldn't be, because I don't like her. If only she would treat me like she used to, I could let her know that_."

"Yo, earth to Esteban," he heard a voice say. Startled, he looked down and saw Cody's blonde head staring up at him. He hadn't even noticed the boy approaching,

"Oh hello," Esteban said dispiritedly, as his eyes from flicked up to a point beyond Cody's shoulder, and quickly back down again.

The younger boy saw this happen, and discreetly cast a backward glance in the direction of Esteban's gaze. What he saw was London and Maddie gabbing at the gift counter.

"I thought you said there was nothing going on between you and Maddie," he said.

"There wasn't. And now there definitely isn't anything going on. You know, she hardly talks to me anymore. She barely even says hi. It's like she doesn't even notice me."

Cody clucked his tongue sympathetically. Even though he had tried to shield Esteban from the truth of Maddie's scorn, she apparently had no problem letting him know how she felt. But it seemed to Cody that flat-out ignoring people wasn't like her at all. He was tempted to go and ask her about it, but remembering how she had told him to keep his observations about her and Esteban to himself, he decided to go up to his suite instead.

If he _had_ asked her, he would have found out that she never knew the story of Esteban and the grape juice spill. And knowing this, he would have told Esteban, who would have seen that he had no reason to be afraid to talk to Maddie, and all might have been resolved.

But Cody knew none of this, so he continued on his way ignorant of all the good he might have done.

* * *

London was down at the gift counter, busily relating the events of her morning to a tuned-out Maddie. She didn't care that Maddie wasn't listening because she preferred not to have people interrupt her stories.

"_He hasn't even said hello to me all week_." Maddie thought as London chattered on. "_He must really not like me if he can't even treat me normally after finding out I like him. But the worst part is, I __don't__ like him! He ought to know that London never knows what she's talking about. So he doesn't have to be all creeped out about it_."

"And then, the hairdryer wouldn't turn on. Can you imagine?" London said, pausing for one of the few times in the one-sided conversation.

Maddie didn't respond. She wasn't even looking at London. She was gazing off into space with a wistful look on her face. London turned to see what she was looking at, and saw, not to her surprise, Esteban talking to Cody at the front desk. Behind her, she heard Maddie sigh.

"What was that for?" the Tipton scion asked, turning to face the other girl. "I thought you said you didn't like him."

"I don't. But it's not like anybody believes me. Esteban doesn't, that's for sure. It's like he won't even look at me anymore."

"Oh," London said softly. Even though she had tried to protect her friend from the truth, Esteban was apparently letting Maddie know exactly how he felt about her. It was actually very sad. And the saddest part was that Maddie kept trying to deny that she liked him, even after she had gone off and openly tried to flirt with him.

"He probably thinks I'm such a weirdo," Maddie said forlornly.

"Don't worry Maddie," London said. "Everybody thinks that anyway!" "_Nothing like a little humor to lighten the situation_!" she thought.

Maddie shot her a "thanks for nothing" look as London walked away laughing. She didn't know that London was again just trying to be kind to her.

"_If Esteban doesn't like Maddie, there's nothing I can do_," London said to herself. The way she saw it, making a joke out of the situation might help make it seem less serious, and less painful. She was so concerned with making this joke that she forgot to ask Maddie why Esteban would think she was weird. Even though she already knew (or thought she did), she would have asked anyway, just to be polite.

If she had asked, Maddie would have answered that it was because of her notebook scribblings. And London would have been able to tell her that she never told Esteban about that, and Maddie would have realized she didn't need to be afraid to talk Esteban. In this way, all might have been resolved, just as a simple question from Cody would have helped Esteban.

But London, like Cody, could not have known this, and so she left Maddie to her musings, unaware of all that might have been.


	4. Puck and Oberon

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Five: Puck and Oberon  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Here's another update for everybody. I hope you like it.

* * *

OBERON:This falls out better than I could devise.  
But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes  
With the love-juice, as I bid thee do?  
PUCK:I took him sleeping-that is finish'd too-  
And the Athenian woman by his side,  
That, when he wak'd, of force she must be ey'd.  
-Shakespeare, _A Midsummer Night's Dream  
_

London spied Cody standing inside the elevator, and called to him to hold the door for her.

"Thanks, Cody," she said. "Without you I would've missed it. Business ties a girl up sometimes, you know?"

"What kind of business?" Cody asked.

"I was just trying to help Maddie out with something."

"What was it?"

"Oh, she was complaining because Esteban never talks to her anymore," London said, completely forgetting that she meant to keep this fact a secret.

"Well, she's been so cold to him lately." Cody said defensively. "How could she expect him to keep treating her normally if she won't do that same for him?"

"Oh," London gasped. "Did I just say that? But I told myself I wouldn't let that get out. Poor Maddie, she's already so embarrased she can hardly stand it."

"But why is she so upset over one little thing he did?"

"Wait," London said, not entirely sure of what Cody was talking about. "Remind me what he did again?"

So he related to her the story of the grape juice spill. "And they've been distant ever since Maddie found out about it, thanks to my evil twin," he said. "Honestly, why does she care so much if Esteban likes her? Zack likes her too and she doesn't treat him that way."

"Esteban likes her?" London screeched. "Maddie never knew that!"

"She didn't?" Cody asked, equally shocked. "Then why is she being so mean to him?"

"She's not. She's just afraid to talk to him because she thinks he thinks she's a weirdo."

"Where in the world did she get that idea?"

"Well, he hasn't wanted to be near her anytime recently."

"Of course he's does. She's the one who doesn't want to be near him."

"Oh, she wants to be with him alright. One day at school I caught her writing their names together all over her notebook."

Now it was Cody's turn to screech: "When did this happen?!"

"I guess it was about two weeks ago." London said.

"So that was why she got all huffy when I asked her about Esteban," Cody said. "I thought it was because she didn't want him to like her. If I had known it was because she did, I would've told Esteban right then, because that was the same time he said her name."

"And that was when I tried to talk to him about Maddie. No wonder he seemed so uninterested," London realized in a rare moment of lucidity. "He was just trying to keep me from figuring out he liked her too."

"So," Cody said, trying to sift through all of this new information. "Maddie doesn't know how Esteban feels about her, but he thinks that she does."

"Right," London agreed,

"And Esteban doesn't know how Maddie feels about him, but _she_ thinks that _he _does."

"Right again."

"And they both think the other doesn't like them back, because they've both been ignoring each other so much."

"Uh huh."

"But the only reason they've been doing it is because they thought their feelings weren't reciprocated. It's all been a vicious cycle."

"Um...sure." London said as Cody's verbage began to get a little above her head. To her, the words "vicious cycle" conjured up a silly image of a bicycle with sharp teeth, and she didn't even want to guess what "reciprocated" meant.

"But if they do really like each other," Cody continued, "then they've been avoiding each other for no reason!" he concluded triumphantly.

"And they can start being friends again!" London added.

"But it might be hard for them, since right now they're both so mortified they can't even speak to each other, " Cody said, his face falling.

He ran a hand through his hair and tried to think of a way he could get his two friends to start communicating again. He couldn't just go up and say "Hey Esteban, Maddie likes you. Now go talk to her." First of all, Esteban still hadn't admitted that he liked Maddie. And there was still the problem of Maddie telling Cody not to meddle in her and Esteban's affairs.

"We have to force them into a situation where they have no choice but to face each other," London spoke up.

"What kind of situation? And how do we do it without letting them know we're behind it?"

"Listen and learn, little one," London said, tapping her head knowingly. "I may not be great at most subjects, but I could teach a class on -

"Matchmaking?" Cody suggested.

"No," she said. "Fixing up your friends."

This would be the third time that Cody and London tried to help the their friends. Separately, the twin and the heiress had unwittingly done more harm than good. What would happen when they worked together? Would they cause double trouble, or would they turn into a winning combination? Would the third time be a charm, or would three misses strike Maddie and Esteban out?


	5. Much Ado About a Carnival

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Five: Much Ado about a Carnival  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Notes: Here's the next chapter. It's a long one!  
(All disclaimers still apply)

* * *

"I would fain have it a match, and I doubt not but to fashion it, if you will minister such assistance as I shall give you direction."  
-_Much Ado About Nothing_

It was night time in Boston. In front of the Tipton, Maddie, Zack, Cody, and Carey were standing, waiting for one of the many Tipton transportation vehicles to arrive. Carey was going to a hotel performer's expo in Houston for the weekend, and Maddie was to stay over at the hotel to babysit the twins. Carey's flight didn't leave until 10:00 pm, so it was dark before she left the hotel. When the chauffer finally pulled up, Carey bent to kiss her sons both on the cheek.

"You kids be good," she said.

"We will, Mom," Zack and Cody answered as they hefted her suitcase into the trunk of the car.

"I left Maddie some extra money for emergencies. Zack don't even think about it," she added as she saw the gleam in her currency-loving son's eye.

"Love you, Mom," he said innocently.

"Love you, too," she said, while giving him a "you don't fool me" look.

"Have fun, Mrs. Martin," Maddie called as Carey got into the car.

"Thanks, and phone me if you need anything," Carey responded through the rolled-down window as the chauffer began to pull away. Together, the three youngsters waved her off, and watched as the car moved out of sight.

"Come on, let's go inside," Maddie said after it was gone. So they turned to go into the lobby, but as they did, they met a green uniform coming out of it.

"Hey Esteban," Zack said at once and jumped into the spinning wheel-door. Cody hesitated for a second, looking with concern at his two friends, but soon followed Zack inside. Better to let them have some privacy, he thought. As he watched them though the glass, he saw Esteban and Maddie standing frozen in their spots.

"Hel - hello," he stuttered, only looking at her for a second before dropping his eyes to the ground.

"Uh...hi," she mumbled back, lowering her gaze as well.

"Maddie, come on!" Zack and Cody's voices rang through the air.

"Oh, I should probably...I guess I...I've gotta go," she stammered, and gestured towards her young charges.

"Yeah..." Esteban said lamely.

"Ok, bye." Maddie said, bolting past him, up the stairs, and vanishing through the door in a flurry of flying blonde hair.

* * *

Later that night, as all in the Martin suite were going to sleep, Zack's voiced floated towards his brother through the darkness of his room. 

"What was that about?" he asked

"What was what about?" Cody asked back.

"Esteban and Maddie," Zack explained. "Why were they acting weird like that earlier?"

"Because they like each other, duh."

"Eww, really?" Zack asked.

"Where have you been?" Cody asked, looking at Zack strangely. "You were here when we found out about it. Remember when Esteban asked what Maddie would think?"

"Oh yeah." Zack said slowly. "I guess I blocked it out of my memory. Too painful. Thanks for bringing it back up again." Zack said, making a sickened face, even though Cody couldn't see it in the dark.

"No problem," Cody said. "So, do you want to help me get them together?"

"Now why would I want to do that?"

"London's in on it too, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind paying you."

"Pay?" Zack asked, his eyes again shining at the mention of money.

"Yeah, and I'm supposed to meet her tonight to go over our plan. I'm going as soon as Maddie's asleep" the younger twin said. Zack watched him get up and crack open the door to the living room where Maddie was settled on the couch.

"Ok, she's out," Cody whispered over his shoulder. "Are you coming or not?"

"Of course I am," Zack spoke right in his ear, causing him to jump. He was already right behind Cody, not wanting to get to the meeting, and therefore his money, a second later than was necessary.

* * *

"Maddie, Maddie, Maddie," Zack chanted the next day as he skipped over to the couch where Maddie was sitting. As Cody had promised, London had payed him to join her and Cody's scheme. She even offered to pay him bonuses for any extra effort he put into making their plan work. So today he was hamming it up. 

"What, what, what?" Maddie asked, smiling at his antics, yet unaware of the real reason for them.

"Did you know there's a carnival that just set up down the block from here?"

"Yeah, I saw it when I was coming over here yesterday."

"You can see it from our window, too. Come look." Cody said as he pointed out the window to the street below. So Maddie got up to look where he was pointing.

"Don't you think it looks cool?"

"Yeah,"

"Don't you think it would be fun?"

"Probably."

"Do you think you could take us?" they asked, hoping that by getting her into the habit of saying "yes," they would get her to say it for this question too.

"Nope," she said instead, a smug look on her face. She had anticipated their scheme, and wasn't going to be fooled by it. Before Carey left, she had told Maddie not to le the boys leave the hotel. "I know they can be a handful even indoors." the singer had said. "So I don't want you to have to deal with them outdoors, where there aren't any walls to stop them from bouncing from here to Timbuktu."

"Aww, come on," the two short blondes whined at the taller one.

"No."

"Please?"

"No, your mom told me not to let you go out."

"Maddie, you should know by now that 'Mom says not to' isn't a good excuse not to do something," Zack said.

Maddie knew that for Zack, this was true, so she looked for another excuse not to take them.

"Your homework's not finished," she said. There was no way Zack could beat that one, because he never did his homework. But to her surprise, he answered with:

"Yes it is."

"No way. Let me see it."

Zack went to the kitchen table, picked up a handful of papers, and handed them to Maddie.

"I helped him," Cody said brightly as Maddie looked through the papers.

"Now can we go?" Zack asked.

"No," said a frustrated Maddie. Count on this to be the one day when Zack actually did do his homework. She quickly tried to think of another reason, but was running out of ideas.

Zack decided to take advantage of her silence. "Let's go get our jackets," he whispered to Cody. Slowly, they began moving towards the coat closet.

"I said no!" Maddie barked, stopping them in their tracks

"Fine," Zack said simply. He sat down and kicked back in front of the TV as if it didn't matter to him whether he went or not. Cody didn't say anything, but looked hurt that Maddie would yell at him like that. He sat down next to Zack and hung his head. Maddie could hear quiet sniffles coming from that direction while Zack leaned over and patted Cody on the back.

"It's ok, buddy," he said. "It's my fault she's mad."

Watching them, Maddie started to feel sorry about the way she reacted. She had been kind of mean to Cody recently, with this most recent ouburst, and the day she had made that stupid mistake with Esteban. Maybe she should take him and Zack to the carnival to make up for her shortness with them.

"Ok, ok." she said. "I'll take you if you want to go so badly. But there are going to be some rules you have to follow or else there's no deal,"

The boys cheered and ran to their room to get their personal effects, while Maddie gathered hers into her purse. After they were ready, Maddie stood in front of them like a seargeant drilling his troops.

"First rule, you will not tell your mother about this. Second, you will not leave my sight. There will be no running away from me just for fun, or for any other reason. Thirdly, when I say it's time to go, it's time to go. No complaining, or whining, or arguing."

Zack raised his hand.

"Yes, private?" Maddie asked.

"I just wanted to know if we should ask London to come with us."

Maddie thought about this. Maybe London could help her control the twins. That is, if she didn't act like a little kid herself. It was a long shot, but Maddie decided it was worth it to ask her. "Alright," she said. "But you are going to listen to her just like you'll listen to me. Unless of course, she says something like 'Let's run away from Maddie.' Then my directions take precedence. Are we clear?"

"Clear," Zack and Cody agreed.

"Good, now march." Maddie commanded, and pointed to the door.

* * *

Having reached London's floor, Maddie rapped on the front door of her friend's suite. It opened, and London's head, with hair full of curlers popped out. 

"London," Maddie said. "We're going to the carnival down the block. Do you want to go with us?"

"Ick, no." London cringed. "Carnivals are grody. You don't know how many people have touched those rides. Besides, Roberto Cavilli's having an exhibition tonight, and I was gonna go to that."

Maddie sighed. So much for that extra helping hand. In her disappointment, she didn't notice London wink at the two boys before she vanished back inside her suite.


	6. Setting the Traps

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Six: Setting the Traps  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Here you go everybody. This chapter includes some things you have been asking for. What things might those be? Read and find out!

* * *

Then loving goes by haps.  
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.  
-_Much Ado About Nothing  
_

As everyone knew except for Maddie herself, London was not telling the truth. It was necessary that she stay behind, not because she had to go to a fashon show, but because, while it fell to the twins to get Maddie to the carnival, it was London's duty to get Esteban there as well.She waited until Maddie and the twins were safely out of the hotel,then hopped the elevator down to the lobby, and trotted over to where Esteban was standing.

"Hey Esteban, does 'mil mascaras' mean?" she asked, pronouncing the word as she would her eye makeup.

"Mil _mas_caras?" he corrected her. "It mean 'a thousand masks.' "

"Oh. But why would they want to see a thousand masks? It's not Halloween."

"Miss London, what in the world are you talking about?" Esteban asked, confused.

"Frankie and Fernando, the two waiters. They said they were going to see mil mascaras and Santa at the carnival down the street. I guess it's some holiday type thing."

"Santa?"

"Yeah, they said the mascaras were going to fight Santa, but he was sick or something. They called him "Ill Santa."

"Mil mascaras and ill Santa..." Esteban repeated, trying to make sense out of London's seemingly random statements. But suddenly his face lit up.

"Do you mean El Santo?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's it. What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

"El Santo and Mil Mascaras are only the greatest masked wrestlers ever!" Esteban told her. "And they're going to be at the carnival?"

"Yeah, tonight."

"Oh, this is great!" Esteban exclaimed loudly, then clapped a hand over his mouth as everyone in the lobby turned to stare at him because of his outburst.

"Ok, well, I've got to get to a show. See you later," London said, making her way to the exit. But instead of actually leaving, she slipped behind a hedge, glued her eye to the door, and waited.

She didn't have to wait long, for Esteban soon came running out, dressed in his street clothes, like she knew he would. And he was headed in the direction of the carnival. Smirking to herself, she came out of her hiding place and slinked off behind him. She tried to stay far enough behind so that he wouldn't see her, but close enough for her to see where he was going. It required a lot of concentration on her part, but Zack and Cody were counting on her, so she was willing to do it.

"Esteban and Maddie are counting on me, too," she told herself. "Even if they don't know it yet."

line

Cody felt his jacket pocket begin to vibrate, and silently brought it to the attention of his brother. Zack nodded and tugged on Maddie's sleeve to get her attention focused on him.

"Maddie, when are we going to eat? Because those corn dogs look really good," he said, and pointed to a yellow cart that had "Korn Dogs" painted in red letters on the front.

Behind them, Cody flipped open the phone he had been carrying. It was pink and decorated with rhinestones, but that was because it belonged to London's dog Ivana. London had lent it to them so they could coordinate their secret plan. He flipped it open and read the words **"New message from London: He's heading towards the ferris wheel."**

"You know," Maddie said to Zack, her attention succesfully diverted. "If you had stayed home, you could've had dinner by now."

"Yeah, well, you didn't _have_ to bring us here," Zack responded, imitating her tone.

The older girl shook her head in disbelief, and Zack cast a quick glance back at Cody.

"Well, we're here anyway, so I guess I have to get you something." Maddie said, and started to walk towards the stand.

Zack, seeing Cody slip the phone back into his pocket, knew it was safe for him to drop his act. "Oh, what do you know, I'm not hungry anymore," he said in mock amazement.

"Let's go get on the ferris wheel." Cody suggested, giving Zack a meaningful look. "I'll race you."

"You're on," Zack replied, and he and Cody took off sprinting without a second glance at their chaperone.

Maddie's mouth fell open as she watched them openly break her rules. But she soon had to collect herself and start moving, or else she was going to them. "They are so in for it," she grumbled as she ran, imagining all the things she would do to the two troublemakers when she caught them. What she didn't know was that they, in turn, were planning things for her, and she was in for quite an unusual night herself.

* * *

Esteban made his way through the fairgrounds, wondering where his heroes, El Santo and Mil Mascaras, might be. As he looked this way and that, he saw two short figures, who he recognized as Zack and Cody rapidly coming his direction.

"Dude, it's Esteban!" Zack exclaimed when he saw him, and skidded to a halt in front of him.

"What's up, big guy?" Cody asked as he slowed down as well.

"Well, I heard that some of my favorite Lucha Libre fighters were going to be here today, so I came down to see them. But so far I haven't found them."

"You mean those wrestler guys? They're not going to be here until tomorrow," Zack said, delivering the line just as he had rehearsed it during the midnight meeting with London.

"Tomorrow?" Esteban said in dismay."I guess I should have known that Miss London would have got her dates mixed up."

"But hey, why don't you hang out with us?" asked Cody.

"Sure, that sounds like - "

"Hey Maddie, look who we found!" Zack suddenly shouted, drowning out Esteban's sentence as Maddie came huffing upon the scene. In a repeat of the day before, both she and Esteban froze when they saw each other.

"He's gonna join our group," Cody explained to her, pretending to be oblivious to the tension between the two.

Maddie pulled her asthma inhaler out of her purse. She was glad to have the subterfuge of needing it because she had been running.

"Ok, so are we going to get on this ferris wheel or what?" Zack asked, clapping his hands together and eyeing the ride's line.

Neither Maddie nor Esteban particularly wanted to get on any rides at the moment, but they really had no choice. Esteban had already promised to hang out with the boys before he found out Maddie was their chaperone. And she, as part of that duty, was not going to let the boys out of her sight. So, helplessly, they followed Zack and Cody as they got in line. As they neared the front, Maddie saw, to her dismay, that this the kind of ferris wheel that had straight benches, and only seated two to a car, rather than the round kind that seated four.

"Ok Cody, I'll sit with you. And Zack, you can sit with Esteban," she directed, hoping to avoid any potential awkwardness.

"But Cody and me want to sit together," Zack protested.

"I know, but you need someone older with you so - " Maddie started to say. But before she could finish, Zack and Cody had hopped into a seat and popped the safety bar down into place. They waved as their car moved forward and up, making room for the next car at the loading station. Maddie and Esteban stared at it. Both were stiff as stone statues, dreading what they knew had to come next.

"Come on, people. You're holding up the line," the ride operator said, his gruff voice breaking them out of their paralysis.

Esteban gulped and turned red, while Maddie glared at the operator murderously, but they had to comply with his request. Slowly, as if her feet were made of lead, Maddie got into the car and slid over to the far end. Esteban, feeling like a dead man walking, had no choice but to follow.


	7. Cross Purposes, Again

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Seven: Cross Purposes, Again  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

* * *

"It seems we've been at cross purposes, doesn't it?"  
-Gone with the Wind

Maddie stared intently at the glittering lights of the carnival below her. She thought if she pretended to be fascinated by the sight afforded by the ferris wheel's height, then she would have an excuse not to look at Esteban. She knew she was being silly, because she had spent the last few weeks wishing for a chance to spend time with him, and now that chance had arrived, but she was too afraid to take it.

Esteban, in his corner, was equally on edge. He looked down at all the people laughing and talking on the ground, and wished he could be down there with them. He, like Maddie, understood the ridiculousness of his situation. For some time now, all he had wanted was an opportunity to get close to Maddie, and now that he was close to her, all he wanted was to be somewhere else. But he also understood that he had to say something to her, whether he wanted to or not. For who knew when he would get another chance?

Cody and Zack, meanwhile, were twisting around in their seats, trying to see if any headway was being made in the car behind them. They were so eager to see how things were going that they were making their car shake with all their movement. Maddie noticed this, and shouted to them to be still.

"We were just trying to say hi! " Zack shouted back, not wanting them to know that he and Cody were spying.

Here, Esteban saw an opportunity. "Don't you hate it when they don't listen?" he asked Maddie as casually as he could. He prayed that his venture would pay off and that she wouldn't pretend to not hear him or something.

"Ugh, they think they're so smart. Well, they better not come crying to me when they fall out of that thing." Maddie said disgustedly, forgetting, in her annoyance, that she was currently trying not to talk to Esteban. When it dawned on her what she had done, her eyes widened in suprise, and she glanced at him uneasily, wondering how he would react. But for his part, Esteban was relieved that she had actually answered him. When she looked over at him in astonishment, he smiled encouragingly, trying to show her he was still the same old Esteban that she used to talk to with the greatest of ease.

Maddie wondered if she were seeing things. Could Esteban really be smiling at her after spurning her for such a long period of time? But she flinched in alarm when she realized she had been sitting there gawking at him, goggle-eyed as a frog, for what seemed like ten minutes.

"So, um...nice view, huh?" she said, jerking herself back to conciousness.

"Yes, you seemed to be enjoying it," Esteban answered, but mentally kicked himself immediately after saying it. "_Way to let her know you've been staring at her like a stalker_," he scolded himself

"Yeah." Maddie said. She tried to think of something interesting to talk about, but her mind kept going to the question of why he had been avoiding her for so long. There was, however, no way she was going to bring that up, so she remained quiet.

On his end, Esteban took her silence to mean she was so uncomfortable with his last statement that she didn't want to talk anymore. "_Nice job_," he continued to chastise himself. "_You just barely got her to start talking and now you've creeped her out _again." He was so upset over his flub that he was reluctant to say anything else, for fear of further scaring her away.

But Maddie was taking his silence to mean the just reverse. She thought that he was regretting his decision to talk to her, and had gone back to ignoring her again. She wouldn't be surprised, after her froggy display earlier. Really, how could she expect him to believe that she didn't like him, if all she did was eyeball him all the time? So in a microcosm of what had been going on for the last two weeks, both retreated to their figurative and literal corners, thinking that the other wanted nothing to do with them.

From ahead, Zack and Cody watched all this drama unfold. "They don't look like they're making any progress," said Cody anxiously.

"Yeah, for a while it looked like they were getting things going, but now look at 'em." Zack agreed.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Cody asked.

"That we've failed miserably, and Esteban and Maddie will hate each other forever?" the older twin suggested hopefully.

"Need I remind you that if such were the case, you wouldn't get any of your sweet moola?"

"Oh yeah. So what do we do to fix it?"

"We go to Plan B," Cody grinned and held up Ivana's sparkly pink cell phone.

As the ferris wheel began to slow down, Madde and Esteban both sighed. These sighs came partly from relief that the torturous ride was over, but also from an opposite feeling, which was disappointment that the ride couldn't last longer. For each thought that if they had only had more time, maybe they could have figured out some way to repair the damage that had been done. Maybe they could've figured out something nice and normal to say. Something that would let the other know they weren't as weird as they seemed. But, alas, it was not be.

As they got out of the car, Maddie, who was now more angry at the operator than ever, shot a withering glance at his back before turning to fix her gaze on Zack and Cody.

Ahead of her, Esteban trudged miserably down the exit ramp, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. But Maddie's voice, calling to him from behind, stopped him in his tracks.

"Esteban?" she asked, a strange tremble in her voice.

He turned to face her, his heart pounding in his chest. Maybe all hope wasn't lost, after all! But he did not expect what came out of her mouth next.

"Where are the boys?" she asked.


	8. My Heart and Me Surprised

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Eight: My Heart and Me Surprised  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Sorry for the wait on this chapter. The past week was unusually busy for me, and I didn't have much time for writing. But to make up for it, I'm uploading two chapters today. Anyway, in the this chapter I wanted to incorporate some of the things we M/E fans have talked about in the forum and in reviews and stuff. So keep a look out for that. And now on with the show.

* * *

Love in a subtle dream disguised  
Hath both my heart and me surprised  
-Ben Johnson, _The Dreame  
_

For a second, Esteban wasn't sure if he heard her right. Maddie's question made it seem as if she were a mother, and she was asking him, as the father, where their children were. It was kind of eerie, really. Especially considering how everyone thought he felt about her.

"What do you mean?" Esteban asked warily.

"I don't see Zack and Cody anywhere." Maddie said, her eyes round and frightened.

"But they're right here," Esteban replied, and gestured behind him. But when his eyes turned to follow his hands, he saw that there was no one there, or at least, no one that was Zack or Cody.

While Maddie and Esteban's attentions had been elsewhere, (Maddie's on giving the evil eye to the ferris wheel operator, and Esteban's focused firmly on the ground,) the twins had made a mad dash down the ramp and out of sight behind the large plywood facade of a nearby kiddie coaster, where London was waiting for them. After joining up, the three of them took off towards the carnival grounds' exit, taking care to mix in with large crowds, and keep low to the ground, so they wouldn't be seen making their getaway. From there, they made a break for the Tipton, running as fast as they could up the street to the hotel. London had wanted to stay and watch the Maddie/Esteban action, but the two youngsters pointed out to her that the carnival grounds were only so big, and they couldn't keep out of sight forever. So it was back to the Tipton they went.

"Ow, ow, ow," winced London as she ran.

"What's the matter?" Zack asked as he jogged beside her.

"These boots were definitely not made for walking, much less running," London said, pointing to the stillettos she had on.

"But you knew we were going to do a lot of moving today," Cody pointed out between breaths. "So why did you wear them?"

"I had to look good for the Cavalli show," London replied, unfazed.

Neither of her companions even bothered to answer.

* * *

Back at the carnival, Maddie was walked to and fro, scanning her surroundings for two matching flaxen heads. But there were none to be seen.

"This is bad. This is really bad," she repeated to herself. " Their mom told me not to let them out of the hotel, but I did it anyway, and now I've lost them."

"Don't worry, they can't have gotten far," Esteban said, fidgeting nervously. He wanted to do something to help her, but he wasn't sure if she wanted his help.

"But what if they have? Then I'm sunk for sure. Esteban, you have to help me find them," Maddie said finally. She wasn't sure if he would be willing to do it, but she had to ask anyway. He had always given her aid in times past, so she had to believe he would do it now, even if it was only for old times' sake.

"Esteban, help me.." The words rang like church bells in his ears. Maddie was actually asking him for assistance, just like she used to do back before they grew apart.

"Of course I'll help," Esteban said, trying to keep the smile from his face. He knew it would be odd for him to walk around grinning while Zack and Cody were missing. So he decided to keep talking in order to prevent that from happening. "When Zack ran away to math camp, Carey almosr ate me," he continued. "I wouldn't want that to happen to you."

"Uh, thank you," Maddie said. She was confused as to how a person could eat another person, but apparently Esteban was under the conviction that it could be done. Although, considering their recent estrangement, Maddie would have expected him not to care whether she were eaten or not. So she was rather pleased that he would instead want to keep her from such a fate. She found that, in spite of her worry for the twins, and what their mother would do to her, a smile was beginning to creep over her features, because she and Esteban were back to normal. Or at least for the time being.

As they moved away from the ferris wheel and began their search, Esteban reflected on how situations like this were what he had missed the most about Maddie during their time apart. He missed how she would run to him for her every impulsive wish. He always felt so important, so needed, whenever she put her trust in him. Maddie was the only person at the Tipton who saw him as more than just a clumsy bellhop. She had always had faith in him, even at times when no one else did. For example, after he got beaten up by London, Maddie still saw him as a strong man on whom she could depend.

And that wasn't the only time she had sought his protection. Esteban remembered the bowling match with the St. Mark's, and how Maddie had clung to him as Gretl, the terrifying giantess, had turned her bowling ball into an airborne missile. And he recalled how she had slipped her hand into his when they had searched for the Tipton's hidden treasure in the honeymoon suite. It was too bad she was only associating with him now because she had no other choice. If the twins hadn't run off, she wouldn't have spoken to him all night. Just because she thought he was sweet on her. Well, it was possible to enjoy a person's company without having a crush on them. And here was his chance to tell her that.

"Do you see anything?" Maddie asked just as he was about to speak up.

"What? Oh - No, I don't see them yet." Esteban said, startled by the interruption. "But we still have a lot of places to look," he added, seeing the disappointment in her face.

As he spoke these reassuring words, Maddie thought about how nice it was to have Esteban on her side again. Until now, she had never understood how much his prescence was necessary to the stability of her world. Whenever she had something she needed to get done, she realized, it was always him that she went to for backup.

When her house was being fumigated, and she wanted to keep Scamp at the hotel, Esteban was the one who helped sneak him inside. When she wanted to send London fake horoscopes, she had again gone straight to him for support. And who did she depend on to take care of the daycare kids the time she had to rescue her grandmother? Esteban. She missed having him to share these things with, but she was grateful to have him back. It was a bitersweet feeling though, because she knew that after they found the twins, he would probably go back to ignoring her again. Just because he thought she liked him. "_But wait_," she thought, "_Here's my chance to tell him the truth!_ "

"Maddie, I - " Esteban said, and turned to her suddenly.

"Esteban, I - " Maddie said, turning towards him at the same time.

The result was that they almost ran smack into each other. Luckily for them, they didn't, but they now found themselves looking each other square in the face, and at closer quarters than they had been for some time. As each gazed upon the other's features, something began to dawn on them both. Somethng that all of their friends had already figured out - that their stubborn denial of attraction no longer held true.

Maddie looked up at Esteban in shock. She couldn't believe that London and Cody had been right all along. How could they have understood her feelings so easily, when she herself didn't even understand them? And since when did she start to feel this way, anyway?

It was true that when when they first met, she had only seen Esteban as a friend. But they had been thrown together much more than normal friendly co-workers would be, thanks to the many misadventures of Zack and Cody. It was during these times that she really got to know him. His likes, his dislikes, his full name and family history, his lame sense of humor, his sincerity and earnestness, even his incorrigible clumsiness. And when Zack and Cody weren't around to make mischief, Maddie realized in surprise, she had taken to inventing reasons to be in Esteban's presence. Did she really have to have someone help her with Scamp? Probably not, because Esteban had actually caused more harm than good in that situation. And did she really have to have someone help her with the fake fortunes? She had come up with most of those herself, and Esteban ended up using her as a human shield against London's wrath anyway. And when Moseby put together a Tipton flag football team, she only signed up for it after she found out Esteban had.

Similarly, Esteban was mulling over the progression of his feelings for Maddie. In his case, as well, it was mainly thanks to Zack and Cody's adventures that he had come to appreciate her quirks and personality traits. He learned about her proneness for smart-aleck remarks, how she liked to experiment with different hairstyles, how she wore tube socks with almost everything, and how she got into almost as many scrapes on her own as she did with Zack and Cody. It was then that she most often needed his help, that she would look up at him with those chestnut eyes, and make him feel so strong, like he could take on anything.

Maddie thought about the time Esteban tried to rescue London's purse from a thief. When he had been unable to do it, the policewoman on the scene told him he was lucky to have London around to protect him. While the woman probably didn't mean to insult him, Maddie had seen the hurt flash in his eyes. She really wanted to do something to lessen his embarrassment, but when she went to speak, she found herself go suddenly shy. "I...I think you did you did good, Esteban," she had stuttered, then turned on her heel and ran inside. Why had she been so shy then? And why had Esteban's pain stabbed at her so deeply in the days that followed, when he sulked about in a depression? Looking back on it, Maddie saw that it was only more evidence of her affinity for him. That would explain why she had been driven to concoct an elaborate plan just to make him feel better.

Esteban found that he was drawn to her company more and more after this incident. He began making time every day to visit with her at her counter. Sometimes he didn't even wait that long. He would often come to her when she first got in the door, like when she had the parenting project with London. While he did think the baby was beautiful, it was Maddie that he was most interested in looking at. And he had volunteered to be the baby's nanny in hopes that he could spend extra time with her. Kind of like the time her crazy grandmother had been found dancing in the lobby, and he was the one who volunteered to tell her. No wonder her name had come to his lips on the day he babysat Zack and Cody, when all three of them had said the name of the person whose opinion they valued most. Cody had said his mom, Zack had said Mr. Moseby, and Esteban had said Maddie. But if he thought he was going to look bad in front of her then, how would he look to her now? She had gone AWOL when she merely heard a rumor he liked her. What would she do now that he really did?

As per usual, Maddie was having a similar thought at a similar time. In leafing through her memories, she had arrived at the fateful day when London caught her writing her and Esteban's names together in her spiral. At the time she thought it was an accident, but she saw now that her unconcious was trying to tell her something. She couldn't believe that she had spent so much time denying that she liked him, only to find that she actually did. What would London say to her when she learned the truth? What would Cody say to her, after she had snapped at him about it? And most importantly, what would Esteban say?


	9. Scorn or Pity

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Nine: Scorn or Pity  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

* * *

No scorn or pity on me take  
I must the true relation make.  
-Johnson, _The Dreame  
_

"_I can't tell him_," was Maddie's first thought. "_He'll freak out even more than before_." But she decided that she had had enough of avoiding him. She would rather just own up to her feelings and get it out of the way. He already knew about them anyway, so even if he continued to ignore her, she wouldn't be any worse off than she was before.

"Um, Esteban," she spoke up gingerly.

"Yes, Maddie?" he asked.

"I just...I mean...I just want to tell you that..." She stopped, took a deep breath, and started over. "Ok. You've probably heard a lot about what I'm about to say, but I think it's time to talk to you about it in person."

Esteban was dreading her next words. He was terrified that she had somehow read his mind, seen all the incriminating things he had been thinking about her, and was about to call him on it.

"Alright, so you know how London likes to gossip? Well, a few weeks ago she was saying some things about me and you. Do you know what things I'm talking about?"

Esteban nodded stiffly, and Maddie continued, glad that she didn't have to put the idea into words.

"So she was fascinated by this idea, and I'm sure she exaggerated when telling the story, and I just want you to know that I'm not as obsessive as she makes me out to be."

"_She's not obsessive? What does that mean? Shouldn't I be the one saying that to her?" _Esteban thought in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Oh, do I really have to spell it out for you?" Maddie cried. "I'm talking about London telling you and everybody that I liked you! And how you got so wigged out about it, and you wouldn't even talk to me and stuff. Although I guess I was kinda uncomfortable talking to you too, but you didn't have to totally ignore me like that. Especially because it wasn't true. Well, at least I didn't think so at the time. And all I did was accidentally write your name next to mine in my notebook at school. It's not like I was all 'Esteban is my future husband,' or anything,"

As you can see, the pressure which had been building underneath two weeks' worth of pent-up emotions had finally reached a boiling point. Maddie rambled on, venting each and every one of her concerns and protests, not necessarily in a coherent order, and not caring whether they were or not.

"And it's only thanks to Zack and Cody that I even got this chance to talk to you. If they hadn't talked me into coming to this carnival, and they never found you here, would we have gone on like strangers 'til judgement day and trumpet sound?" she asked angrily. "And so what if I like you? It's not like I have the plague. Is it really going to kill you to come near me?"

But where Maddie was talking nonstop, Esteban, on the other hand, was completely nonplussed. Maddie thought he was creeped out by her! True, he had been afraid to talk to her, afraid of what she would say to him, but it was only because he desired her good opinion so much. And speaking of her good opinion - she liked him! She wrote their names together - like people do when they're dating! If he had known that, he never would have kept such a distance from her.

"And besides - " Maddie started in on her next point, but Esteban interrupted her.

"Maddie, I think there's been a misunderstanding," he said.

"You bet there has! "

"No. I mean that I never wanted to push away."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I didn't think _you_ wanted to be near _me_ anymore."

"Why would you think that? Didn't London tell you I did?" Maddie asked, surprise starting to take the place of her anger.

"No. I thought you were upset with what I did, that time when I slipped up about your name."

"What time? I never heard about anything like that." Maddie said

"And I never heard that you wrote my name and yours together."

Maddie blushed and began playing with a strand of her hair. "Yeah, well..that time it was an accident, you know. Although I guess I was unconsciously telling myself..." She paused for one final second, then took the plunge. "...I want you to be more than a friend. But honestly, it's okay if you don't feel the same way. I just wanted to tell you..."

The exact number of split ends on that section of hair never seemed so vividly significant as they did to her at that second, when she hung in agony over what Esteban would say to her next. Would he laugh in her face? Would he treat her like a little child, and tell her that she didn't understand what she was saying? But her agony soon ended as he began to speak, saying slowly and softly:

"Don't you know I'm crazy about you, too?"


	10. The Tangled Web Undone

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Nine: Scorn or Pity  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

* * *

No scorn or pity on me take  
I must the true relation make.  
-Johnson, _The Dreame  
_

"_I can't tell him_," was Maddie's first thought. "_He'll freak out even more than before_." But she decided that she had had enough of avoiding him. She would rather just own up to her feelings and get it out of the way. He already knew about them anyway, so even if he continued to ignore her, she wouldn't be any worse off than she was before.

"Um, Esteban," she spoke up gingerly.

"Yes, Maddie?" he asked.

"I just...I mean...I just want to tell you that..." She stopped, took a deep breath, and started over. "Ok. You've probably heard a lot about what I'm about to say, but I think it's time to talk to you about it in person."

Esteban was dreading her next words. He was terrified that she had somehow read his mind, seen all the incriminating things he had been thinking about her, and was about to call him on it.

"Alright, so you know how London likes to gossip? Well, a few weeks ago she was saying some things about me and you. Do you know what things I'm talking about?"

Esteban nodded stiffly, and Maddie continued, glad that she didn't have to put the idea into words.

"So she was fascinated by this idea, and I'm sure she exaggerated when telling the story, and I just want you to know that I'm not as obsessive as she makes me out to be."

"_She's not obsessive? What does that mean? Shouldn't I be the one saying that to her?" _Esteban thought in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Oh, do I really have to spell it out for you?" Maddie cried. "I'm talking about London telling you and everybody that I liked you! And how you got so wigged out about it, and you wouldn't even talk to me and stuff. Although I guess I was kinda uncomfortable talking to you too, but you didn't have to totally ignore me like that. Especially because it wasn't true. Well, at least I didn't think so at the time. And all I did was accidentally write your name next to mine in my notebook at school. It's not like I was all 'Esteban is my future husband,' or anything,"

As you can see, the pressure which had been building underneath two weeks' worth of pent-up emotions had finally reached a boiling point. Maddie rambled on, venting each and every one of her concerns and protests, not necessarily in a coherent order, and not caring whether they were or not.

"And it's only thanks to Zack and Cody that I even got this chance to talk to you. If they hadn't talked me into coming to this carnival, and they never found you here, would we have gone on like strangers 'til judgement day and trumpet sound?" she asked angrily. "And so what if I like you? It's not like I have the plague. Is it really going to kill you to come near me?"

But where Maddie was talking nonstop, Esteban, on the other hand, was completely nonplussed. Maddie thought he was creeped out by her! True, he had been afraid to talk to her, afraid of what she would say to him, but it was only because he desired her good opinion so much. And speaking of her good opinion - she liked him! She wrote their names together - like people do when they're dating! If he had known that, he never would have kept such a distance from her.

"And besides - " Maddie started in on her next point, but Esteban interrupted her.

"Maddie, I think there's been a misunderstanding," he said.

"You bet there has! "

"No. I mean that I never wanted to push away."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I didn't think _you_ wanted to be near _me_ anymore."

"Why would you think that? Didn't London tell you I did?" Maddie asked, surprise starting to take the place of her anger.

"No. I thought you were upset with what I did, that time when I slipped up about your name."

"What time? I never heard about anything like that." Maddie said

"And I never heard that you wrote my name and yours together."

Maddie blushed and began playing with a strand of her hair. "Yeah, well..that time it was an accident, you know. Although I guess I was unconsciously telling myself..." She paused for one final second, then took the plunge. "...I want you to be more than a friend. But honestly, it's okay if you don't feel the same way. I just wanted to tell you..."

The exact number of split ends on that section of hair never seemed so vividly significant as they did to her at that second, when she hung in agony over what Esteban would say to her next. Would he laugh in her face? Would he treat her like a little child, and tell her that she didn't understand what she was saying? But her agony soon ended as he began to speak, saying slowly and softly:

"Don't you know I'm crazy about you, too?"


	11. Excuses and Eavesdropping

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Eleven: Excuses and Eavesdropping  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

* * *

"Better a bad excuse, than none at all."  
-William Camden

"I can't believe you two! Were you here all along?" Maddie asked as Esteban set her down in a chair.

"No," said Zack.

"Part of the time we were running," Cody offered.

Maddie rolled her eyes and turned to London. "And what about you? What happened to your fashion thing?"

But London never got a chance to answer, for Mr. Moseby chose that moment to approach the group. The unusual state in which his two employees arrived, and the resulting commotion from Cody, London, and Zack, had naturally drawn his attention.

"Just what is going on over here?" he asked. He was trying to sound authoritative, but curiosity and concern were evident in his voice.

"Well, Mr. Moseby," Esteban started, his love of detailed explanations kicking in. "Maddie and I were with the boys at a carnival today, and we kind of lost track of them. And then while we were looking for them, this guy ran into Maddie and made her fall. And then when I asked him why he did it he said that this one ride was stuck and his kids were on it. So Maddie thought that the boys might be on it so we - "

Mr. Moseby, impatiently waiting for Esteban to finish his monologue, clucked at him and made his trademark "zip-it" motions with his hands.

"Well anyway, I twisted my ankle," Maddie spoke up. "And Esteban kindly offered to carry me over here and go back to look for them by himself. But I guess that won't be necessary," she said, swinging her gaze to the twins. "Didn't I tell you not run away from me? What's the matter with you?"

"But Cody had to go to the bathroom!" Zack said, and pointed to his brother.

"So what? They had portable ones at the carnival." Maddie pointed out.

"Ew, I couldn't use those! Talk about unsanitary!" Cody said. He shuddered to make his statement more believable. This was yet another step in the plan. The three conspirators had come up with this excuse because everyone knew of Cody's severe germophobia.

"And I couldn't let him go alone. Bad guys might have gotten him," Zack explained

"How do you think Esteban and I felt when you went missing?" Maddie demanded. "We had no idea whether bad guys really did get you, or whether you were stuck on the Kamikaze, or what. And what would I tell your mom if I never found you?"

"You boys are lucky she's out of town," Mr. Moseby admonished them.

"You're not going to tell her, are you?" they asked fearfully.

"I won't this time, but I think you need to apologize to these two."

"Sorry guys," said Cody. "We didn't mean to scare you. We just wanted to, uh...use clean bathrooms." he finished awkwardly.

"Yeah," Zack began embellishing. "You never know with those public ones. We could've gotten infected. We could've gotten anything! Tetanus! Rabies! Scabies! Emphysema!"

"Alright, alright." Moseby fussed. "Now let's give Maddie some space." He started to herd the little group away from the sofa.

"You know best, Mr. Moseby," said Cody nonchalantly, trying to make it sound like an excuse to get away from the hotseat wasn't exactly what he had been waiting for.

"Sounds good, Mo-dawg," added Zack. "We'll just go up to our suite and -"

"Oh no you don't," Maddie cut in. "Do you think after that stunt you just pulled I'd let you go anywhere by yourselves? If you're going upstairs, I'm coming with you."

London and the siblings exchanged panicked looks. This wouldn't be good for the plan at all. They didn't know how much progress Esteban and Maddie had made in admitting their feelings to each other, but the only way that goal was going to be achieved was if he and she were alone together. And perhaps it was due to the gravity of the situation that London was actually able to think on her feet.

"How about if I go with them? You need to rest, and you can't do that with these little monsters running around and making lots of noise." she said.

Maddie considered this for a moment. London wasn't all that responsible of a person herself. But maybe if she took Zack and Cody, it would give Maddie a chance to talk to Esteban a little more. After all, they never got to properly finish their conversation earlier.

"_Don't you know I'm crazy about you, too?_" the words echoed in her head.

"See, you don't look so good. Kind of red, actually. That's why you should let me take them." London continued.

Maddie didn't realize she had been blushing. The embarassment over everyone seeing her do it caused her to hastily wave London away, giving her permission to take the Martin children with her.

With the trouble taken care of, Moseby headed back to his desk. "Will you two be ok?" he asked before leaving.

Moseby hadn't meant anything by this, but Esteban couldn't help but find significant meaning in his use of the phrase "you two."

"Yes, Maddie will be fine." He smiled uneasily, not wanting to reveal too much by mentioning himself and her together in the same sentence.

Moseby shook his head, but didn't say anything. He had noticed something unusual going on between those two, but far be it from him to pry. So he just turned and walked away.

But while it may have been far for the manager, it was not so for from some of the other employees. Norman the doorman, Irene the concierge lady, and many others had witnessed the scene that had just played out, and were attentively listening to see what would happen next.

"Um, Maddie? Do you think we can talk?" Esteban said when Moseby had gone.

"Uh, yeah...if you want to..."

Despite what had passed between them while they were alone, the always active atmosphere of the Tipton didn't offer much privacy. They were finding it hard to converse as freely as they had on the way there.

"Do you - do you remember what I said when..." he trailed off as a very interested looking fellow bellhop passed by.

At this moment, he and Maddie looked and sounded just like they had before that night's incidents. They were both visibly embarrassed, stumbling over their words, and overly concious of their diction. Happily, the reason for their discomfiture now had nothing to do with each other. It had to do with other people's prying ears.

"Do you wanna go somewhere where we can be alone?" Maddie asked suddenly. She, too, had noticed how many other people seemed to want in on their conversation.

"Yeah," Esteban said quickly. He stood up and helped Maddie to her feet. With the initial pain in her ankle gone, she found was able to hobble a little, but still couldn't do it without help. She leaned on Esteban, who was only too happy to assist, and together they made their way into the first empty space they found, which happened to be London's boutique. Little did they know, they weren't completely alone.

* * *

Ok, so I couldn't remember the name of the concierge lady, but I think it's something close to Irene. (edit: I found out that's actually it.) Oh, and the "tetanus, rabies, etc." quote comes form the 1987 film **Adventures in Babysitting**.

Well, tune in next time for the big conclusion!


	12. What I've Been Looking For

The Last Place You Look  
Chapter Twelve: What I've Been Looking For  
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Here it is, the grand finale! I hope you all love it. It's been a blast writing the story and reading everyone's generous reviews. I love all of you guys!

* * *

So lonely before, I finally found what I've been looking for  
-High School Musical

Maddie shut the doors to the small room, not trusting her privacy to the scruples of her coworkers.

"So, um what were you saying?" she asked Esteban, once they were safely closed in.

"Oh...well, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for being so rude to you recently, you know, like ignoring you and everything. If I had known it was hurting you, I never would have done it. I thought it was what you wanted."

"Don't worry about it, Esteban. I was doing the same thing to you, and I'm sorry I didn't just come talk to you about it." Maddie told him. "It seems like we were both so afraid of ruining our friendship that we almost really did ruin it. It's a good thing we found out in time, though."

"Lucky for us, Zack and Cody disappeared, or else we wouldn't have." Esteban said, repeating the words from Maddie's tirade earlier in the night.

The mention of these names made Maddie remember her anger at them. "You know," she said, "I still can't believe they were here at the Tipton that whole time. After they begged and begged me to take them out to the carnival, the last place I would've expected to find them was back at home."

"It's just been a day full of surprises," mused Esteban. "First of all, I didn't expect to see you at the carnival,"

"And I didn't expect to see you," Maddie added.

"And we didn't expect the little blondies to run away.."

"And we certainly didn't expect to find them here,"

"And I never thought I would hear you say those amazing words to me after you reamed me out at the carnival. And before today I never knew how much I wanted to hear them." Esteban told her.

"Oh that..." Maddie blushed for what seemed the hundredth time that day. She didn't why she was doing it, really. After all, she would have felt a lot worse if she hadn't told him how she felt. "Well, before today I never thought I would be saying them. I didn't even know I felt that way until right then," she said finally.

"I guess great minds think alike," he said, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Hey!" she protested, and reached up to try and tousle his hair in return. But before she could do so, Esteban had taken hold of her outstretched arm, pulled her in close to him, and kissed her. And, dear readers, I am happy to report that she had not a single objection to his doing so.

But now I must return to the idea of their incomplete solitude. As you may have guessed, Cody, Zack, and London were not content to make the match without seeing the results. They had not really gone upstairs, but instead, had stealthily followed their friends as far as the pink-paned doors, where, as Maddie had closed them, they had to be content with peeking through the glass.

"I knew my plan would work." London whispered. "Yay me...I mean, yay them."

"Isn't that just most adorable thing?" Cody sighed, being rather girly.

"Yes it is," Zack said, staring at the wad of bills London had just handed him.

But the trials of Esteban and Maddie were not over just yet. One more mishap was destined to occur before the perfect happiness of their union was to be settled, and this mishap came in the form of Mr. Moseby, giving a tour of the hotel to a potential convention hostess. The three young spies were so occupied with their spying that they didn't notice him coming until it was too late to stop him from walking straight for the boutique.

"You'll love our staff," Moseby was saying, giving the standard line he gave to all his guests. But when, upon entering the room, he saw Maddie and Esteban, he let out one high-pitched shriek, then immediately pushed the surprised client back out of the room and tried to laugh it off.

"Apparently they love each other, too." he said, forcing a smile that came out looking more like a grimace.

At this point, the loyal London jumped up, wanting to help Moseby save face.

"You know what they say," she exclaimed to the shocked woman. "Welcome to the Tipton, where everything is sweet!"

And everything was sweet for the Tipton's bellboy and candy girl, because their search for the missing Zack and Cody had led them to find something less tangible, but no less valuable. And so it was that Maddie and Esteban discovered that the things which they had been looking for, and all things worth finding, are always in the last place you look.

_-Fin-_


End file.
